Big questions loomed Friday over the death of Kurt Andras Reinhold, who was fatally shot by Orange County sheriff’s deputies in the beachfront town of San Clemente.
How did this well-educated, churchgoing Black man, who coached youth soccer and had two children of his own, end up living on the streets of south Orange County? What pushed him into mental illness and homelessness? Why did two deputies, part of a specialized detail to help people who are homeless, confront him Wednesday?
And then there’s the doubt that nagged at neighbors Laura Engeman and Rani Craig as they headed Thursday to an impromptu memorial near the spot where Reinhold was killed: “How did a routine interaction from a homeless outreach effort escalate into a gun incident?” Engeman asked.
Reinhold’s name has been added to the long list of Black men and women killed by police under questionable circumstances across the country: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Brendon Glenn, Michael Brown and many others.
Those deaths have fueled a summer of coast-to-coast protests against systemic racism. And they have spurred calls for police reform, including proposals to strip police of the routine responsibility of dealing with people who are mentally ill or homeless.
Awaiting body cams.
How did this well-educated, churchgoing Black man, who coached youth soccer and had two children of his own, end up living on the streets of south Orange County? What pushed him into mental illness and homelessness? Why did two deputies, part of a specialized detail to help people who are homeless, confront him Wednesday?
And then there’s the doubt that nagged at neighbors Laura Engeman and Rani Craig as they headed Thursday to an impromptu memorial near the spot where Reinhold was killed: “How did a routine interaction from a homeless outreach effort escalate into a gun incident?” Engeman asked.
Reinhold’s name has been added to the long list of Black men and women killed by police under questionable circumstances across the country: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Brendon Glenn, Michael Brown and many others.
Those deaths have fueled a summer of coast-to-coast protests against systemic racism. And they have spurred calls for police reform, including proposals to strip police of the routine responsibility of dealing with people who are mentally ill or homeless.
Affluent Orange County town roiled by police killing of Black homeless man
Questions loom after a homeless Black man was killed by sheriff's deputies who stopped him for jaywalking.
news.yahoo.com
Awaiting body cams.